Need help with a C5 crusade battle...

[Neuro JItsu]

OK, since these guys are in a fortress, I'm guessing they are a standard battle and one that *must* be won in order to have free rein of the map, not some random group bedeviling just little ol' me. So I can't merely avoid this fight.

Problem is that the opposing force is five swarms of vescavors - two with 500 each IIRC, and three with either 700 or 770 :-O

I have put together a decent army with marksman, paladins, hedge knights, devas, and spearmen (mostly just for blocking purposes). Army is 12th level, and the general is a mage with all the cool toys. Each unit is big, too, several hundred each for most (maybe 70 devas).

Yet somehow this 5 swarm army is level 12 as well. Not far above me, not far below me, just same rank.

I have run this battle five times so far (plus one experiment in Toybox), and it's a simple numbers game - I get wiped after killing one swarm AT BEST. Each swarm attacks three times, and even with my big marksmen stack protected by the rest and shooting for all they're worth and my mage general launching fireballs at 3+ swarms every round he is able, they have way more attacks and do more damage, there is no mathematical way to overcome those numbers. And they have some special ability that blocks me from attacking when they get close, my knights literally cannot do anything to them after Round 1, I don't get the option to attack.

I lost my first battle in C3, read up on the crusade mechanics, and then never lost a battle the rest of the chapter. I am not clueless, LOL, I understand the crusade game system. But this has me stumped. Bolt of Justice kills maybe 100 tops in one group, a fireball kills 100-150 in however many groups I can hit. Archers kill 100 a round. That's nowhere near enough. That's ~200-300 kills per round, perhaps 5-8% of their force - but they kill 20% of mine, given that I am usually wiped after Round 5.

Perhaps I should try hold monster? Summons? I even went into Toybox and doubled my army units. Literally same result, wiped after killing one swarm (though 2 more were about to die). So I suspect "get a bigger army" is not a compelling strategy, esp. given how long it would take to double it legitimately. I'd be at the end of the game by then.

Help :-P

[ExcaliburV]

If you want my personal cheat with toybox, go into your units stats and add a couple 0's to their HP. That fight always did feel way too rough.

If you want to try and do it legit, swarms attack everyone that's adjacent to them at the end of their turn, so the best tactic might be to scatter your army. Your archers will probably biff it almost immediately but hopefully good use of powers and your melee units can hold out long enough to get you a win. Losses will probably be bad regardless though. Maybe a unit of clerics/paladins that can help spread the heals would help?

[Garessta]

My personal favourite cheat with toybox is to set recruit growth to max, the price of them to min, get an army of thousands of whoever and let the autobattler run is strange course.
it's also the fastest.
the autobattler in the game, mind you, doesnt work the same way actual fights do. you can win battles you would normally lose and vice versa. usually vice versa, tho.

[Winger]

I just loaded up a save from Act V to see what that battle was about. If you haven't cleared up the entire map, just level up your general to get Firestorm and Twin Cast (level 15 and 17 respectively, iirc).
My general is also a caster, she's level 17. Twin casting Firestorm in the first round pretty much cleared the battlefield.

[Neuro JItsu]

Thanks, folks, this helps. I had wondered if just waiting and getting more general nukes would help. :-)